DOES our reader know where Settle is, or the description of country that has to be traversed in making the journey to this part of England ? The question will pro- bably be answered in the negative, as it is a small market town of some 2000 inhabi- tants, situated on elevated ground in the north-west of Yorkshire, and surrounded by the high hills of the Penine chain of mountains, which run from the borders of Scotland in a southerly direction to Derbyshire. We are not aware that any important events greater than those usually to be met with in small towns have ever taken place in this locality, unless we ex- cept the giant undertaking of the Midland Railway Company, which, in the year 1876, at a cost exceeding 2,000,000/., opened up a direct line north to Scotland via Settle and Carlisle, an undertaking which remains an example of engineering enterprise and skill. The route taken by this line lies right through the loftiest and wildest parts of England, and is surrounded by high mountains, and extensive moors, obstacles that could only be overcome by the utmost pluck and perseverance on the part of those engaged in the work.

It is not, however, on this account that we are calling attention to the neighbour- hood of Settle, but because of the im- portant position it holds in its relation to the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITU- TION. The support this Society has been accorded is far beyond what could have been expected from such a locality, and even exceeds that received from some of the manufacturing centres of the first class. In describing Settle, we take ad- vantage also of the opportunity afforded us to describe the leading features of the magnificent scenery to be met with in these parts, and to attract the notice of our readers to one or two special advan- tages enjoyed by the residents. Settle, then, is situated in a most picturesque position in that part of north-west York- shire termed the Craven district. Three rivers take their rise from the slopes of the Penine chain in the immediate neigh- bourhood, and thread their way by the three great valleys of Craven, viz:—Aire- dale, Wharfedale, and Eibblesdale, whence they derive their names, the Aire and the Wharfe flowing east to the Ouse, and thence to the Humber, and the Bibble in a south-westerly direction through Lanca- shire into the Irish Sea. The town is near the bank of the Kibble, and at the foot of a huge limestone rock called Castlebergh, which rises to a height of 300 feet, and is the most prominent attraction in the place.

Winding paths through plantations lead to the top, from whence splendid views of the surrounding country can be ob- tained. It possesses a handsome Town Hall of Elizabethan structure, and a Lite- rary Society, which was established so long ago as 1770. This society owns a library containing upwards of 8000 volumes, which, with the Mechanics' Li- brary and Savings Bank, are in the Town Hall," an intellectual provision, we take it, rarely to be met with in a small town of so remote a district." Settle is chiefly dependent upon agriculture and cotton- spinning, there being a few small mills, but the land is all grass. The Settle and Carlisle Railway places the town in direct communication with Scotland, and it is also in railway communication with the Lancashire cotton district. On the south of Settle, the line of railway from Brad- ford enters the Craven district first at Shipley and Saltaire, containing a popula- tion of 12,000 inhabitants, dependent chiefly upon the woollen and worsted- spinning industry. The latter place is famous for the mills opened by Sir Titus Salt in 1853, who first introduced the manufacture of alpaca woollen fabrics.

Continuing our journey north we arrive at Keighley, which has a large population of 25,000 inhabitants, and is a considerable manufacturing town, recently made famous by the outcry of its guardians against vaccination.

Leaving the line for a few minutes and branching off to the right, a distance of six miles, we notice Ilkley, a rising town and water-cure place of some note, some- what similar to Malvern and containing several hydropathic establishments. Ee- gaining the line and resuming our journey, Skipton, with a population of 10,000, is reached, and though the town is not a large one, it is an important centre and is called the capital of Craven. Skipton Castle, occupying a commanding position, .is the most prominent object of interest, and was for a short time in possession of " Piers de Gaveston," the favourite of Edward II., but afterwards came into the hands of the Clifford family, who were created Earls of Cumberland by Henry VIII., by whose descendants it is still held.

The town is charmingly situated in the valley of the Aire, and by the great " Craven Fault," for which it is a capital rendezvous. The principal industries are lime quarrying and agriculture.

To the right of Skipton, distant about six miles, is Bolton Abbey and woods, where the visitor is introduced to one of the most beautiful spots in Great Britain, which will always be associated in the mind with Landseer's well - known picture of " Bolton Abbey in the Olden Time." The abbey belongs to the Duke of Devonshire.

Reverting back to the line of rail we once more pursue our way north, and arrive at Settle, which we have already described.

It is surrounded by several small villages, thinly populated but of great interest.

Malham and Gordale, to the north-east, distant about five miles, are noted for a magnificent line of cliff, caused by a dis- placement of the limestone formation known as the " Craven Fault," already alluded to in our description of Skipton, and forming an enormous wall. At Malham Cove there is a vast amphitheatre of limestone 285 feet high.which.is brought more into prominence by the green shrubs clinging to the ledges.

In the distance to the north may be seen the lofty hills of Ingleborough.Penne- gent, and Whernside, the best known of a number of gigantic fells, and exceeding 2,300 feet in height.

Crossing the river Eibble by a prettily- situated bridge thrown across the banks about half a mile from Settle, we approach the pretty village of Giggleswick at the foot of the scar, or cliff of the same name, and containing the parish church, that in Settle proper beiag only a chapel of ease. The church is built in the Perpendicular style and has a carved pulpit bearing the follow- ing peculiar inscription on the desk:" Heare is the Standardes of the Israelites when the to Canaan cam aganes the Canaanites." There is also a brass in the middle aisle to the memory of the Rev. Mr. Paley, who was of a Craven family, and was for fifty years Master of the Grammar School. He was also the father of the celebrated Arch- deacon of the same name, who received his education at this school, to which we would particularly call the attention of our readers, the more so as in the present day some of our principal public schools are falling into disrepute. Giggleswick school, dating from 1553, has become of late years one of the most important institutions of the kind in the north of, England. The board of governors include several well- known names and members of Parliament, and in 1876 a general statement was pre- fixed to the official class-list for mid- summer of that year to the following effect: That it is the aim of the governors to provide proper instruction for boys up to the age of nineteen, who intend to pro- ceed to the Universities, to compete for appointments in the civil service, and to pass the entrance examinations for the army; also to provide more completely for those who wish to qualify themselves at school for their business or profession.

The statement goes on to say that it is the intention of the governors that Giggles- wick shall be a first-grade modern school; that 2000/. have been appropriated for the erection of a laboratory, lecture room, and apparatus for the greater development of chemistry and the various branches of physics; that the governors have recently expended 20.000/. in building a large boarding-house, in providing masters' houses and other buildings, and that there is excellent accommodation for one hun- dred and thirty boarders.

Giggleswick scar is a range of limestone cliffs containing several caves, but its j chief point of interest is the celebrated ebbing and flowing well, a phenomenon caused, it is said, by the singular passage of the water through the channels and reservoirs in the limestone rock. j We end here a brief description of the j district, with Settle for its head-quarters, ' in which Mr. CHRISTOPHER BROWN, of Stainforth, has laboured in the interest I of the Life - boat service for a period [ of twenty-three years, and has by his energy, belief in the cause he has espoused and his more than liberal example, raised the Settle Branch to the very important position it occupies among the inland branches of the United Kingdom. Daring the above-mentioned space of time two Life-boats have been presented by the Branch, and an endowment fund raised of 2,0071. on behalf of these two boats.

Up to the present time the contributions ! received by the Society from Mr. BROWN ! amount to no less than 4.700Z., he having j himself given donations to the handsome amount of 665Z. The stations appro- ! priated to the Settle Life-boats are Penmon in the Island of Anglesea, and Hornsea on the coast of Yorkshire. The former was first sent to its station at the close of 1868, and on its way was taken to Settle for exhibition, where it vras named the Christopher Brown, in the presence of the leading persons of the neighbourhood and a large concourse of people, assembled to commemorate Mr.

BROWN'S philanthropic exertions. This boat was replaced in 1880, by another bearing the same name, and the two boats have been instrumental in saving twenty-three lives.

The Hornsea Life-boat left London for its destination in May 1875, and was also sent to Settle for the inspection of the Donors, Mr. BROWN being again the medium through which the cost of build- ing was defrayed. It was named in the usual manner by Mr. E. INGLEBY, The Ellen and Margaret of Settle, after Mr.

BROWN'S mother and sister. The boat was subsequently forwarded to its sta- tion, and has been the happy means of saving ten lives. Such is the record of the conspicuous services rendered by Mr.

CHRISTOPHER BROWN to the noble canse of saving life from shipwreck ; services which are recognised and highly appreciated by this Institution, the efforts of which are ever turned in this one direction, but would be completely paralysed were it not for the zealous co-operation of gentlemen like Mr. BROWN, who, we trust, will be long spared to carry on his good works.